Eagles hold off Clovers, improve record to 4-1

Tuesday, December 11, 2018 ~ Updated 11:41 PM
Cloverdale’s Jake Wilkes goes up for two points against Dalton Scott of South Putnam on Tuesday.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

If the first few weeks of the boys’ basketball season have proven anything, it’s that games between Putnam County squads will be close and down to the wire.

South Putnam has already played all three county opponents, losing in overtime to North Putnam and pulling away in the final minute to beat Greencastle.

On Tuesday, the Eagles hung tough at the end to pull out a 59-56 win over Cloverdale.

South coach Greg Dean acknowledged the toughness of the county battles, and was glad his team was able to win its second straight such game and third straight overall.

“These games are going to be battles every night,” he said. “The county tournament is going to be a war, and everybody is going to lay it all on the line every night. That’s what both teams did tonight, and my kids had to play really hard to get past Cloverdale.

“They were really good defensively, and they made us work really hard,” Dean added. “They hit a lot of shots, and we knew they were going to do that.”

The Eagles controlled play for most of the first half, leading 9-4 early and hanging on for a 15-12 lead at the first stop.

They got a trio of 3-pointers in the period, two from Austin Arnold and one from Allen Plunkett.

The Clovers took their first lead with six straight points to open the second period, as Nolan Kelley hit a pair of free throws and Jake Wilkes and Kyle Thomas followed with baskets.

South pulled the three-ball back out of its pocket late in the half, as Plunkett hit a pair of treys and Thomas Fanning another.

Thomas hit a trey of his own for the Clovers to cut the deficit to 26-25, which was the score at intermission.

The teams continued to battle each other, and traded baskets for most of the third period.

A Thomas basket with 4:01 left put the Clovers up 35-34, and a Kelley free throws a few minutes later put them up 42-40 with 1:29 left.

Plunkett missed a 3-point attempt on the last possession of the third period, but Arnold scooped up the rebound and scored on a putback to tie the game at 42-42 entering the final period.

South opened the final period on a 6-0 run, getting a free throw from Plunkett, a basket from Dalton Scott and another trey from Arnold to go up 48-42.

Cloverdale would not lead again, and saw its record fall to 1-5 on the season.

South, which im- proved to 4-1, hit eight free throws in the final period.

Neither team will celebrate its night at the line, however, as the Eagles hit only 10 of 22 and Cloverdale just six of 13.

“This was our best effort of the year,” said Cloverdale assistant coach Karl Turk, speaking for head coach Patrick Rady (who was on the bench but feeling under the weather). “That’s the most complete game from start to finish that we’ve had, but it’s not enough. It’s a place we can continue to grow from.

“The free throw line killed us,” Turk added. “Plunkett made some extremely difficult shots, and their whole senior class did well.”

Austin Arnold gets off a jumper against Cloverdale on Tuesday night. He had a career-high 18 points on perfect shooting from the field.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

Plunkett paced the Eagles with 24 points, while Arnold added a career-high total of 18 and Fanning contributed eight.

Arnold’s explosion included 6 of 6 from the field, including hitting all three treys, and 3 of 4 at the line. He also grabbed eight rebounds.

“He was outstanding, and he’s got the ability to do that,” Dean said. “We might have a different person step up every night and put the ball in the basket for us. We’ll take whoever it is.

“The best-case scenario is that we get three or four guys in double figures,” he added. “We have to go inside more. I think we relied too much on the 3-point shot. Cloverdale did a good job of forcing that, and had a good job of guarding us inside.”

Dean was glad his team was able to turn in another good performance on the heels of its outstanding effort against Greencastle on Friday.

“Our kids played hard,” he said. “Our guys are working well together and doing some really good things.”

Wilkes paced Cloverdale with 18 points, while Thomas had 14 and Watts had 12 as the Clovers lost their third straight.

They look to right the ship on Friday with a conference game at Brown County, looking for their first WIC win, and then bounce back on Saturday night to play at Greencastle.

“We missed some layups that hurt us,” Turk noted. “The physicality of the game is something our young players are not used to yet.”

South plays at West Vigo on Friday, holding a 1-1 league record and hoping for a Greencastle win over Sullivan to force a multiple-team tie for first place in the West Division.

“Going over there is always a tough trip, and it’s a tough place to play,” Dean said. “It’s still early in the season, and we’re going to have to put our best foot forward, be ready to play and execute our game plan.”

CLOVERDALE (56) — Thomas 6-17 1-2 14, Wilkes 7-11 2-5 18, Watts 4-9 0-0 12, N.Kelley 1-7 3-6 5, J.Kelley 2-4 0-0 5, Ashcraft 0-0 0-0 0, Sims 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-49 FG, 6-13 FT, 56 TP

SOUTH PUTNAM (59) — Plunkett 7-18 5-9 24, Scott 2-4 0-3 4, Fanning 3-8 1-4 8, Arnold 6-6 3-4 18, Watson 0-0 1-2 1, Vansickle 2-5 0-0 4, Gregory 0-1 0 -0 0, Heavin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-42 FG, 10-22 FT, 59 TP.

Cloverdale1213171456
South Putnam1511161759

3-point shooting — Cloverdale 8-24 (Thomas 1-8, Wilkes 2-2, Watts 4-9, N.Kelley 0-2, J. Kelley 1-2), South 9-19 (Plunkett 5-13, Scott 0-2, Fanning 1-2, Arnold 3-3). Turnovers — Clovers 8, South 10.